The Soldier and The Boy
by Naomi Anderson
Summary: On his way to a meeting, the young Levi Ackerman made a stop to take care of something. Just to bring a boy home who appears to be suffering from trauma after the last Titan attack. The young officer now is going to learn if he has what it takes to take care of a child who is not only traumatized, but also a titan shifter himself. Rating may go up to M later on.
1. Heart Breaking Encounter

Levi Ackerman, a Lieutenant in the Scout Regiment is no more than twenty six years old under the command of Captain Erwin Smith was walking down the road when he head some yelling and a child screaming. Usually the man would have moved on but there was something about the scream that raised some red flags. The young man quickly turned the corner towards the scream that he heard and started running as fast as he could. Forget the damn meeting, this was more important. At least it was to Levi.

As he got closer to where he thought the scream came from, his eyes widened in shock when he saw under a Merchant's stand a little boy. The boy looked like he was frightened, clinging to something. Standing there was a man and a woman, yelling at each other as they appeared to be trying to get the boy out from under the stand. He could not quite hear what they were yelling but what ever it was, it just seemed to be doing more of a good job at scaring the boy then calming him enough to come out of hiding.

As he got closer he could hear what the woman was yelling at least since she was yelling on the top of her lungs, "This is your damn fault for wanting a son so badly! We wind up with a child like him who appeared out of no where!"

The man looked back to her, "Do not put all the blame on me! It was you who said we should take him in. It is not my damn fault he just screams and hides when he feels like it."

"Oh don't even go there Harry, you know of what else he has done since we brought him into our home. He has been nothing but trouble." The Woman crossed her arms over her chest, "Just get him out of there so we can go home."

Levi came to a stop just beside them, speaking up after he has caught his breath, "What is going on here?" He asked looking to the man and the woman, obviously concerned because it was starting to drizzle. Meaning that any time it will start to rain since it is the time of year that it usually pours for days and days almost none stop.

"It is none of your -" The woman was starting to speak up but was stopped when the man who she referred to as Harry put a hand on her firmly, "Don't you see you are speaking to an officer you stupid woman." The man looked to Levi and gestured angrily to the stand that the boy was hiding under, "We took him in after he was brought to us. He has been nothing but trouble since we took him in three weeks ago. He screams like a bloody Banshee, and hides. When we try to get him out he just kicks, screams and bites. Hard." The man said, obviously not caring that his raised voice was frightening the boy even more.

The young officer frowned as he looked to them, but for the young boy's sake he kept his voice calm and low, "Well I can tell you one thing. Your fucking yelling is not helping to calm the boy enough to come out of hiding." He then looked to the woman, not caring that she was older than him, "And this is now my business after I see how you are treating him now.. any parent would know what the affect of the last attack can have on a young kid like this." Levi gave them a warning glare to not try anything stupid before walking up to the stand.

Standing in front of the stand he placed his hand on the top to help ease himself down onto his knees and elbows, ignoring the cold stone pavement below him. His heart sank when he actually saw how terrified the little boy was. There were some tears plastered to his face, his green eyes glazed with more tears that were still shedding from his eyes. The man frowned at the sight as he wondered just what else he had to put with, and not just with what ever caused him to go on these outbursts.

"Eh good luck getting him out of there. He will never come out, not even to you mate. So why don't you save yourself the stress and move on." The older man said with a slight hint of frustration, "We will take care of him."

Levi remained calm as he continued to look at the boy, wondering how to get the toddler out of hiding, "And what do you plan to do to him once you do? Put him through more trauma? I can tell you he has had more than enough of that." He now could see the boy was clinging to a stuffed bear toy, and looking right at him, still too frightened to move just yet.

The woman looked to Harry, "Would you just get him out from under there? It is starting to rain. We will catch a cold if we stay in this weather any longer."

The man growled and walked over to one of the other three sides of the stand, reaching for the boy he grabbed the boy by the ankle with a yank to get him out. The toddler screamed and kicked at the man's hand before crawling deeper under the stand until he was pressed against the building. Having enough of the two older people the young officer growled as he jumped up and quickly walked over to the man, grabbing him by the collar of his coat and pinning him to the building, "Why did you do that?! Hurting him will not get him out of there! Something scared him! That is why he is hiding under there!" Levi let go of the man's collar and stepped away, pointing a finger at him, "You stay right there while I get him out!"

Levi walked back to where he was before, a hint of anger was in his eyes on his overall calm expression, "When I get him out he will be coming with me." He got back onto the now wet pavement.

"Why would you take in a child like that? He could be a child of the devil with the looks that he gets on his face when he is angry or throwing a fit over nothing." The woman said.

"Because I know I will do a better job at looking after him than you sorry excuse of adults." Levi said plainly before crawling under as much of the stand as he could without scaring the child anymore than what he is. The boy looked to the young man with a obvious look of fear in his eyes, shaking because it was cold as well as because of how scared he was. Normally this sort of thing did not affect Levi but this time it was breaking his heart to see a child this scared. Finally after what felt like was hours, the boy finally crawled over to Levi, the bear held close to him in one arm. The toddler suddenly started crying as he clinged to the officer, who quickly removed his cloaked and wrapped it around the boy before carefully getting out from under the stand with the boy in his arms.

Pulling the hood over the boy's head, the man looked to see if the couple were still there but they appeared to have left. A sigh escaped from the man's lips as he looked down to the toddler who was still shaking, possibly still frightened, "Looks like you are coming home with me after all.. without a fuss." Levi said as he started running as quickly as possible towards where his quarters are, though it was still a long run to get there. But it appeared that this rain spell was over as it started to slowly drizzle instead of picking up to a full blown rain spell, so Levi slowed down to a quick paced walk.

Looking down to the toddler a rare smile appeared on the man's face as he saw that the toddler's hands still tightly clinging to him with his head just over the man's. The man watched as the toddler blinked sleepily as he listened to the man's steady heart beat, "I do not see why they say you are the child of the Devil.. not just because of your behavior.." His smile tugged some more at the corners of his lips as the boy fell asleep just as Levi was walking up to a building, "Eren.. Sleep well." He pulled the door open and stepped inside, quickly closing the door.

Walking to the set of stairs he ignored the looks that he was getting from people that he passed by, or who passed by him. To not wake the sleeping toddler the man slowly walked up the stairs, his arms protectively wrapped around Eren. But it was not long before he was standing in front of the door to his room. Carefully holding the boy in one arm he fished his room key out of his pocket and slipped it into the lock.

Now unlocked, Levi pushed the door open and stepped inside, kicking the door closed with his foot. The sound of the door closing caused the boy to jump with a small whimper that was easily silenced when Levi ran his hand gently through the boy's brunette hair. Smacking his lips Eren rubbed at his face a little before going back into a deep sleep as Levi carefully placed the boy on the bed at the other end of the room, thankful that he had his own private quarters. Looking over the sleeping toddler, the man gently pulled the covers over Eren.

A tired sigh escaped from the man's lips as he tugged off his cravat and his coat, thinking that keeping the boy wrapped in the cloak will help to keep the boy calm for now. Putting his coat on a peg, he neatly folded his cravat; placing it on the stand next to the coat peg. Walking over to the couch he flopped down as he ran his hand through his raven hair. Levi glanced over to the boy who was still amazingly asleep, not really to Levi's surprise since the boy had quite the unwanted excitement not too long ago. Laying his head on the back of the couch, the young officer stared at the ceiling, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.


	2. Starting Adulthood

The man had probably just closed his eyes when he felt something trying to climb onto his lap while standing on the tops of his feet. He slowly tilted his head to look at the little toddler, then over to the bed wondering how the little guy managed to oh so quietly climb off the bed and walk over with out the officer hearing him. His eyes falling back onto the boy, he bent over and carefully picked Eren up, placing the toddler on his lap. the boy looked up to him with wide green eyes, almost as though he was still afraid.

Levi's expression softened, though he could not say the same quite happened with his voice though he did his best as he spoke to the boy, "It's alright. No one here is going to hurt you. I will not allow anyone to hurt you Eren." The man gently ran his hand through the boy's hair, earning a somewhat anxious coo from the toddler, before the boy laid his head against the man, "That's right. You're safe now." A glance out the window told him that it was probably late at night now, and knew that the toddler will be up early. Though there was a chance the boy is still tired from the day's event still, possibly enough to sleep a little more past eight at least.

Reaching over to a cushion that was sitting next to them on the couch he then reached for a blanket before adjusting the both of them into a laying position on the couch. Unfolding the blanket as Eren moved to lay his head on the man's chest, Levi carefully placed the blanket over them. Stifling a sneeze as the toddler's hair tickled his nose. Smoothing the boy's hair a little, the man laid his head back on the pillow, carefully placing an arm over the sleeping Eren, who snuggled some more into the blankets and Levi in response as he brought a thumb to his mouth and sucked on it as he slept. Levi stared at the ceiling as he waited once again for sleep to come to him after being woken up by Eren, "I wonder what the others will think.." The man sighed as he looked down to the boy, pulling the blanket a bit more up to cover the toddler and himself some more, "Ah well they can just get over it." He laid his head back down, blinking sleepily before finally giving into the sleep spell.

The next morning Levi was gently woken up when he felt little hands on his face along with the quiet sound of a toddler's blabbering, though there were not really any real words. The man yawned as he stretched, the boy watching with what appeared to be fascination, somewhat imitating the man as he stretched his arms out as well. That was until he curiously reached into Levi's mouth to grab at his tongue, causing the man to jump awake, "Eren! That is my tongue!" He gently put his hand on the boy's wrist to make him let go, "That is disgusting you little bugger. Don't you know how many germs there are in the human mouth?"

Eren took his hand back quickly, looking sadly at the man who gently ran his hand through the boy's hair in a playful ruffle of Eren's hair. The boy giggled at the gesture and tried grabbing at the man's wrist even though he cannot quite reach that high yet, "You are way too cute to be a Devil's Child.. They are dead wrong about that." The man glanced to the window and saw that the sun was quite high in the sky, "Wow.. you must have slept good..." He was cut off when he heard the boy's stomach growling, earning a small chuckle from Levi, "We better get you something to eat. Before you.." He watched as the boy looked to his fingers before stuffing them into his mouth, "Before you eat yourself up." Levi yawned again before he carefully sat up, placing the boy in his arms to prevent him from falling.

The boy looked up to Levi, his fingers still stuffed in his mouth, sucking on them. Levi ran his fingers through his hair to fix it as he watched the boy, "Alright enough of that. I don't think you taste that good." He removed the toddler's hand from his mouth, grabbing a cloth from his pocket to clean Eren's hand off. Placing the cloth back in his pocket, Levi picked the boy up as he stood up and placed the boy back onto the couch, "Stay right there alright?" He poked the boy's nose earning a fit of giggles.

Smirking, Levi walked over to where his coat was hanging and slipped his coat on before picking up his cravat. He failed to notice that in that time Eren managed to climb down from the couch and toddle over to him, grabbing onto his leg. The man looked down and sighed, "Well.. that went well.." He smiled as the boy looked up at him and smiled, "At least you are doing better." He then picked the boy up and started walking over to the small bathroom, "But let's see if you need to go alright?" He opened the door and carefully placed the toddler on the floor, undoing his trousers before placing him on the seat of the toilet. Levi carefully held him there to make sure the boy did not fall.

The boy looked to him, seeming to be a little oblivious to what was going on, before his eyes widened as he went. The man frowned a little, "It is alright to have to go Eren. Nothing to be ashamed about silly." The boy then smiled finally before poking at Levi's nose, "Silly!" Eren yelled in excitement.

The officer chuckled as he got some toilet paper and carefully cleaned the boy off before placing him back on the floor. Flushing the toilet the man put the toddler's trousers back on before picking him up and washing the boy's hands in the sink, though the child made that a bit difficult as he played a little bit with the bar of soap, before it fell to the floor with a wet thud. Levi chuckled as he rinsed the boy's hands off and set him on the floor with a towel of his own to dry his hands off with. Reaching for the bar of soap he rinsed it off before washing his own hands, grabbing a second towel to dry his hands with.

He set his towel on the rack to dry before getting down on one knee to help Eren dry his hands, gently running the towel along the toddler's hands, "And that is how you dry your hands ok?" He ruffled the boy's hair a little before he stood up and placed the towel on the rack next to his. Turning back to the boy he gently picked him up and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door a tad. As he headed towards the door with the boy in one arm, he reached for the toddler's stuffed bear and handed it to the boy, who quickly took it from Levi.

Opening the door he was careful to not accidentally bump Eren in the frame as he stepped out, turning to close and lock the door, he looked to Eren to make sure the toddler was not freaking out. The child was being a little clingy but he was not exactly panicking just yet at least, "It's alright Eren. Nothing will happen to you." The man said as he started walking down the stairs.


	3. The Dining Hall

Little Eren was literally clinging to Levi with all the strength that he had in his little hands as the man walked into the dining hall, pressing his face to the man's chest. The officer made some rather harsh glances towards anyone who appeared that they were going to question him, but his gaze did soften when his eyes made contact with a certain woman's who was sitting with Captain Erwin and some other people that Levi personally knew of course. The man then looked away from them to the boy as he heard a small whimper come from the toddler, "Boy this must be a shock to you.. being surrounded by people you don't know.." Levi ran his hand over the boy's head gently as he tried to calm the child.

Walking over to where the start of the line was, he carefully held the boy in one arm as he picked up a tray along with a plate, usually he did not feed himself and just had a cup of coffee or tea. Coffee was what he usually preferred, "Now what to get you little man.." Levi looked to the boy for a moment as the toddler turned himself around, his green eyes looking down at the food in front of him before turning to plant his face back into the man's chest as Captain Erwin walked over, "Where were you last night? You never showed up to the meeting.." He said looking to the boy that was in the Lieutenant's arms.

Levi tightened his hold on the child a little to prevent anyone from taking the child from him as well as to prevent little Eren from falling out of his arms as the toddler reached for a small bowl of cut up apples, "I got a bit distracted last night." Levi said as he put the bowl of apples Eren was reaching for onto his tray, then a bowl of grapes next.

"Will it explain why you have a toddler with you?" Erwin crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down to the shorter man, "It is hard to imagine you would take the time to take in a child."

Levi looked up to the blond man with a hint of a glare, "And maybe I did take the time to take the child away from some adults who might have beaten him to death if I did not step in." The raven hair said harshly as he picked the tray up and walked over to where the drinks were served, ignoring his superior as the taller man followed him, "Erwin would you just let me get this kid fed before he starts chewing his hand off?" Levi said as he removed the toddler's fingers from his mouth, handing the child one of the apple slices. Eren eagerly took the apple and immediately started chewing on it, looking from Erwin to Levi. The toddler partially hid himself from the taller man, as he seemed to be scary to Eren.

The Captain opened his mouth to say something but snapped his mouth shut before walking away back to the table that Hanji and the others were sitting at, mumbling something to them. Though the woman looked over to Levi and little Eren with a small smile on her face as she rested her chin on the back of her hand, saying something to her superior officer that just earned a face palm from the Captain.

The Lieutenant decided that perhaps Eren would like a cup of milk or juice, and so searched the beverages for something. Finding some apple juice he put some into a cup and placed it on the tray before getting himself a cup of plain black coffee. Picking the tray up he sat down at the same table as the others, next to Hanji.

Eren looked to the woman before hiding his face, still munching on that one piece of apple that Levi gave to him a moment ago as Hanji looked to the toddler, "So where did you get him from Levi?" She smiled at the boy as Eren looked to her, "He is so adorable!"

Levi looked down at the boy, wiping some apple crumbs from his face, "I got him while I was on my way to the meeting.. he was hiding under this merchant stand." He then gave the boy his apple slice back and looked to Hanji, "The adults who must have taken him in before I took him, were not treating him so well at all." The man frowned, "I thought that they might have left him there since he was not moving. But then with how they were yelling like they were and grabbing at him I do not blame Eren for not getting out from underneath the stand."

Hanji smiled at Levi, "Well it is a good thing that you were passing by." She watched as the toddler tried to give Levi a piece of the apple that he was eating, "He already seems to be so attached to you. Eren? Is that his name you gave him or what the couple were calling him?"

Levi gave into the little boy's demands and took a bite of the apple, swallowing before speaking again, "No. I named him Eren. The people were calling him a Devil's Child.. I see no evidence of that." Levi handed the toddler another apple slice as Eren reached for one.

"I don't understand that. He is acting like a typical toddler.. though better behaved than one actually. Has he thrown any fits?" Hanji looked to Levi with a curious expression on her face.

Shaking his head before sipping his coffee, "No tantrums so far." The man took another quick sip of his drink and set the cup down, "He's quiet for a kid his age."

The woman frowned a little, "That is odd but maybe it is just a phase he is going through. He seems to be happy. Which is a good thing." She giggled when Eren looked to her and tried handing her an apple slice, "No thank you Eren I already have eaten. But your daddy hasn't. Maybe he will eat it." She watched as Eren looked up to Levi before trying to hand him the apple, well more like trying to stuff it in his mouth.

"Thank you Eren.." He looked to the woman next to him with a calm expression that really said 'Gee thanks a lot.' before taking the apple and taking a bite of it. Watching the boy's face light up as he ate the apple though put a warm feeling in his chest. He wondered how when he rarely smiled at anyone that this toddler manages to get the man to smile so easily. Maybe it was just an affect kids have on adults.

Hanji giggled, "If you want I can hold Eren so you can eat your breakfast properly." She looked to the Toddler, giggling again as he was now trying to put a grape in Levi's mouth, on top of the apple that he was already eating.

"Please. He is probably thinking my mouth is an endless cavern to stuff food into." The Lieutenant picked Eren up and handed him to Hanji. The boy did put up a bit of a fuss as he was handed to the woman but quietened down once he was seated, holding onto the woman's shirt staring up at Levi with sad eyes, "It is just until I am done eating Eren." Levi said before putting a grape in his mouth, handing the toddler another apple slice. Eren refused to take the apple and instead made grabby hands towards Levi, asking for the man to take him back as the toddler's eyes started to fill with tears. It just took one small glance at the boy for Levi to give in and take the toddler back from Hanji, "You really are attached now are you?"

Erwin looked to the man next to him before looking back to Levi, "So how will you explain to the General about why you missed the meeting-" He was then rudely interrupted by Levi as the younger man quickly cut in with, "Sitting there listening to a bunch of people discussing on how to get more land to fatten up merchants is not that important of a meeting Captain. Not to me. Merchants are already fat enough."

Eren giggled loudly, coughing a little before yelling, "Fat!" And threw himself into another giggle fit.

The Captain sighed, shaking his head, "Well you better make sure you get to the next meeting.. What are you going to do with the kid when we go on expeditions though?" The Captain's blue eyes settled on the shorter man.

Levi looked to his superior and shrugged, "Depends on the reason for the meeting and I will figure out what to do with Eren." The man said as he picked up a napkin and wiped the boy's face off gently who took the piece of cloth and started trying to clean Levi's hand, "Eren I just cleaned your face with that.. gross." But he just let the boy do what he was doing since the boy was learning.

Glancing to everyone then back to the boy, he decided that perhaps it was time to take Eren back to the room and get him cleaned up. Separating the bowl of apples from the rest of the tray, Levi carefully picked the boy up in one arms as he stood up. Picking the tray up he walked it over to where the cleaning station is and then walked back to the table and picked the bowl of apple slices up, "I will see you lot later." Levi then walked away, though Hanji was following close behind him.


	4. Freak Out

Levi nodded to Hanji as she said that she will be back down to Levi's room in a moment because she wanted to grab something. Setting the toddler down, Levi watched as the boy walked over towards where the couch was before looking back to the door as he closed it. He did not bother to lock the door though since he knew that Hanji will be back down at any minute. Taking his coat back off he placed it on the peg before walking over to the table in front of the couch and placed the bowl of apples down on it.

The man then looked down to Eren and could not help but smile as the boy tried to reach for the bowl of apple slices, "Alright I will cut you a deal." He said as Levi picked the boy up and placed him on the couch before picking the bowl of apples up, "If you do not make a mess you can sit on the couch and eat them." He watched as the toddler reached for one of the apple slices and started chewing on it, looking up at the man with his green eyes. Levi sighed with some relief, "Good.. I will be right back." The man walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Walking back out from the bathroom he was caught by surprise when he saw Eren fast asleep, his hand still lightly holding the apple slice. Levi had no idea when exactly the toddler fell asleep but the man was glad that he was not expected to be at the Scout Regiment's Headquarters just yet. Thinking about getting to headquarters made the man realize that he had no idea what to do with the kid when he is not in town, just what is he to do with the kid? The officer gently picked the toddler up and walked over to the bed. Laying the boy down he placed the toddler's teddy bear next to him before pulling the blankets over the boy a little. Running his hand through the boy's hair with some affection he quietly walked over to his desk to finish up some paper work he had been working on since yesterday morning.

Picking up the quill the man lightly tapped the end on the piece of paper, glancing over to where the boy was sleeping to make sure Eren was still asleep, Levi looked back to the stack of papers and started writing. While he was writing the man was quietly thinking of what he is to do with the kid while he is away. Really he did not know anyone well enough besides the people he worked with to leave the toddler with anyone. Putting the quill down Levi sighed, running his hands through his hair, "... Maybe.. no. I don't think they will be caring enough.." He looked over to the toddler and sighed, "The others will just have to get over it. I don't know anyone else besides those in the Scout Regiment.. He will have to tag along." Picking the quill back up Levi finished up the paper work. Neatly putting all the papers into a stack he set them to one corner of the desk.

Eren whimpered quietly, hugging his teddy bear with all the strength he can. Tears appeared at the corner of his eyes as he started to whimper louder. Enough so that Levi looked over to him, a light frown on his face as he saw the expression on the boy's face. Concerned the man came to a stand, accidentally fast enough to cause the chair to bang into the corner of the desk. Startled by the noise Eren screamed on top of his lungs as he started crying loudly, tossing his bear away as he brought his hands to his tightly shut eyes.

Running over he as gently as possible tried to pick the boy up, but it just seemed to scare the boy more, swinging his little arms madly before grabbing what he could and biting the sleeve of Levi's shirt. Concern and sadness were in Levi's eyes as the boy's panicking seemed to be escalating more, "Eren it's me. Open your eyes kid." Levi said calmly to the boy, "You are having a nightmare, wake up. Come on Eren."

The man said as he took the top blanket off of the bed and wrapped the toddler up in it as tightly as possible. The boy continued to cry though as the man held the boy close to him as he continued to try calming the toddler down. Adjusting himself on the bed so he was sitting on the bed fully, not caring if his boots would get the sheets underneath him dirty, "You are alright Eren. You are just having a nightmare, a bad dream." Levi brought the boy's head to his chest, remembering that the last time the child was scared that it calmed him down, "Open your eyes please Eren.."He wondered what a mother would do in his position to calm a child down, sadly he did not remember much of his mother at all. But then he remembered seeing what other mother's and most fathers would do, "You are alright Eren.. You're safe remember?" He gently kissed the top of the boy's head.

The toddler's screaming came to a stop, replaced by eager gasps of air that was accompanied by silent wails and sobs. Eren's eyes were still shut tightly enough to tell the man that the nightmare that the child was having was not quite over yet, but he had no idea what to do. Levi did not even know how to try waking the toddler up with out scaring the child more. Cradling Eren in his arms he held him as close as possible without hurting the toddler, resting his cheek on the top of Eren's head, "Come on kid.. If you open your eyes you will see everything is alright. Wake up. Please." The man looked down to Eren as he felt the child move, he could see the expression was now soft again, but there still appeared to be some fear still as the boy quietly whimpered.

Looking to the door he saw Hanji bursting into the room, he put a finger to his lips to tell the woman to keep quiet. Hanji got the silent message and closed the door quietly before quickly walking over, "What was all that about? I heard that from my room two floors up Levi."

The man looked somewhat pained as he looked down at the toddler, "I think he was having a nightmare.. he.. was panicking about something. It happened so fast as well." Levi sighed, planting another kiss on the top of Eren's head, who snuggled his face into the man's chest, "I think this is what that couple were stressed about.. I do not even know if this is working to keep him calm Hanji." He looked over to the woman.

Hanji gave Levi a warm smile, "Levi.. you actually did what any good parent would have done with a child that was having a nightmare like that. Besides.. it seems to have worked to calm Eren down enough to sleep more peacefully." The woman said as she looked to the boy, "Parenting is not something that comes with a guide at all.. you just learn as you go along with it.. Not even I know how to be a mother Levi."

Sighing the man nodded, "I understand.. But now that I have seen a glimpse of what Eren's panic episodes can be like. I don't want to leave him with anyone while I am away." Levi looked back down to Eren, who appeared to be sleeping more peacefully, "I'm afraid that someone might hurt him if he had a panic attack while I am away."

Hanji sighed with content, "Well.. I'm sure that everyone at headquarters will understand.. I certainly do." She moved to be a little bit closer carefully to keep from startling the already frightened Eren, "If anyone has a problem they can just get over it."

Levi thought quietly for a moment before silently speaking up, stuttering a little bit at first, "Hanji.. will you.. help me take care of Eren? I'm certain he will need a mother figure."

The woman looked at the man with some shock in her eyes. She could not believe what she was hearing. Did he just ask her to help him take care of Eren? No way! He just asked her? Of all the women she was the one who he asked. Hanji's eyes appeared to sparkle, "Of course I will help you Levi." She looked down at the toddler, "I would love to help you take care of him." The woman looked to Levi with a warm smile.

Smirking he looked back down to Hanji, "Well it appears I will be here for a little while. It is a good thing I got my paperwork done.." He ran his hand through the boy's sweaty hair, "He.. must have been having quite a bad dream. His hair is all wet." The man looked down at the boy with concern, "Just what could have happened that has caused him to be like this?"

Hanji shrugged, "I don't know.. maybe it has something to do with the last Titan attack." She gently ran her hand through the toddler's hair, "Maybe.. it is something that will get better with time."

The man nodded, "Yeah maybe.. hopefully it will get better." He tried to put the boy down just for a moment to readjust the blanket that he wrapped the boy in, but a quick fuss from Eren told Levi that he should not do anything but hold the toddler close to him.

Hanji climbed off the bed and faced Levi, "I will take yours and my paperwork to the Captain. If he asks anything I will tell him what happened.. he should not have a problem. You just stay there and help the boy calm down." She gave the man a quick peck on the cheek before walking over to Levi's desk and picked up the stack of papers before quietly walking over to the door.

With another glance at the boy, the Lieutenant quietly sighed before adjusting himself on the bed and laid down. Careful not to scare Eren or to let him fall off of the man. He gently ran his hand through the boy's still wet hair, "You are safe Eren. There is no need to be afraid.. I don't know what happened. But I promise what ever it is.. that it will never happen again." He watched as the boy put a thumb to his mouth and started gently sucking his tiny thumb, causing the man to smile a little bit with some relief, "That's right."

The toddler then finally opened his eyes, his thumb still in his mouth as he looked up to the man with his tear glossed eyes. The man put a warm smile on his face, wiping the tears away from the corner of the boy's eyes, "Hey.. that must have been one bad dream you were having." He gently poked the boy's nose, getting a giggle fit in response, "But now you know everything is alright."

Eren's green eyes continued to stare at the man as the boy rolled himself over to be on his belly, his free hand that was not currently occupying the boy's mouth ran along the man's face lightly, before the boy crawled some more onto him to be closer to his face, "Daddy!" Levi looked at the toddler with shock in his eyes when he heard Eren say that one certain word, unsure of how to react.


	5. Special Word

Levi looked down to the boy with a shocked expression on his face, the boy was just looking at the man with a sleepy smile on his face. The man took a deep breath, trying to form words that just did not seem to be coming out, "What? What did you call me Eren?" The man sat up, picking the boy up carefully, "Eren, can you say that again?" The man looked to the boy a bit wide eyed, wondering if he was just hearing things or if the toddler really did just call him that one special word.

He watched closely as the toddler looked at him with a wide smile on his face, the tears that were in Eren's eyes were gone, replaced with that one look that every child should have. A peaceful, happy face. Eren wiggled a little bit in the man's hands, reaching his hands out and placed them on Levi's face. The toddler smiled wider before blurting out, "Daddy!"

The officer bit his bottom lip, "You just called me.. Daddy." The man bit his bottom lip, for once he had no idea what to do in response to being called something. Pulling the boy closer he planted a kiss on the child's cheek. He felt the boy place his tiny hands on his face as Eren giggled, before yawning again. The man smiled and placed the boy back on his chest. Another yawn and the boy was out cold, back to sleeping and sucking his thumb. Levi carefully cradled the boy in his arms as he sat back up and carefully placed the boy down on the bed before getting up and walking over to where his coat was hanging and slipped it on.

Looking into the mirror, Levi adjusted his cravat. Seeing it was straight he nodded in satisfaction. He looked back to the line of pegs and noticed that his cloak was not there, where did he put it? The man spun around on his heal and noticed that it was still on the bed from when he put Eren in it when Levi first brought him to his place. Chuckling a little, the officer walked over and put his cloak on. Adjusting the cloak a little once it was on he looked down to the boy and realized he had no extra clothing for the boy, "I better stop someplace and get you some more close before we head over to Head Quarters.."

He picked the boy up carefully, picking the boy's precious teddy bear at the same time. The man looked around to make sure he did not miss anything. The man quickly turned towards the door when he heard it opening, sighing a little when he saw it was just hanji, "Oh it's just you.. I will be a little bit delayed getting to HQ. I got to get Eren clothes."

Hanji would have jumped and yelled something but she did not do that since she saw Eren. _Oh he is asleep in my man's arms.. did I just say my man? Well.. he did just ask me not too long ago to help him take care of the kid. So that technically makes me his woman_. The woman smiled as she looked to the kid, "Well.. I don't think Erwin would mind since finding the kid some clothes is a big emergency." She walked over to the two of them adjusting the man's cravat and the blanket that Levi had wrapped around the kid, "I will help you. After all you did ask me to be the boy's mother."

Levi stepped back in protest, "No Hanji I will not put your career in jeopardy because of me taking in a kid. You go on ahead. I will speak to Captain Erwin when I get to Head Quarters."

The man yelped a little when the woman grabbed him by the cravat and pulled him until they were close to each other, little Eren being all that kept their bodies from touching. Hanji pressed her nose to Levi's as she kept a firm hold on the man's cravat, "You asked me to help you take care of Eren. And that is what I am going to do. Got that?" She tugged at the cravat firmly.

The man opened and closed his mouth a couple times, unsure of what to say as he stared at her eyes. Taking a deep breath he planted a firm kiss on her lips for a couple seconds, "Alright. You can come along. If anyone asks, he is ours and we kept it a secret until now." He kept his expression calm, with a small smirk, as he watched a blush appear on the woman's cheeks as she readjusted his cravat. Though she now seemed to be distracted as she finished adjusting the piece of cloth with shaky hands.

Levi chuckled, "I never thought something as simple as a kiss would do this to you. I thought only researching Titan's did." The man shifted his arms a little to have a better hold on the boy, "Now I know what to do when you are being so energetic." Levi said teasingly.

Hanji hummed a little as she took the boy away from the man gently, "Mmm we will talk about that later. Right now we need to get to the market to find this little man some clothes." She said before turning around and walked over to the door. Levi followed close behind her, and opened the door up for her. Once she stepped out, Levi stepped out. Turning towards the door as he locked it, Hanji turned to him, "Does that make me your woman Levi?" She whispered quietly in his ear.

Turning towards her Levi nodded, "Yes. It does." He then started walking down the stairs in front of her, glancing back to her and Eren. He then stopped and waited until she was next to him before continuing to walk down the stairs. The two adults ignored the stares that were coming their way as they walked to the door. Though Levi did give some warning glances to those who he saw were possibly thinking of causing some sort of trouble. Opening the door he waited for Hanji to step out before following her out.

Hanji looked down to the toddler who was now starting to wake up, "Well hello Eren. Did you have a nice sleep?" She said warmly to Eren as the boy stretched his arms as he yawned before rubbing his face a little, "Looks like you did have a good sleep." She adjusted her hold on the boy so he was against her chest, the boy nuzzling his head into her a little as he sleepily sucked on his thumb, looking up at the woman then over to Levi. The woman came to a stop beside the stables.

Levi stopped and put Hanji to the side, "I will get the horses. Wait here." He then disappeared into the stable building. The woman stood there for maybe a mere five minutes before Levi was back with their horses, "Maybe we should walk to the market.." He watched as Hanji moved to get on her horse, "Wait! Let me.." The woman climbed onto her horse, "Help you?" He smirked, "Well.. alright then." Levi walked over to his horse and climbed onto the saddle. Following Hanji's horse, keeping his horse close to hers as the large animals slowly walked along the road towards the market.


	6. The Market

Hopping off of his horse, Levi held onto the rein's of Hanji's horse as she carefully got off her horse to keep herself from dropping Eren, "I will be looking for some clothes for the little one." She said as Hanji walked past Levi. Looking down at the boy with a laugh as the toddler grabbed at a strand of her hair.

The man took the reins of both horses in one hand and gently grabbed the woman's arm and made her look at him, "Be careful about other people. Who knows if they know about him. I will be back in a moment when I tie the horses to the post." He then let go of her arm and started leading the horses away to the post where other horses were tied at.

Hanji watched Levi for a moment before looking down to the toddler, "I won't let anything happen to you. Just as your daddy won't." She glanced over to the man again before walking towards the endless rows of merchant stands, though the clothes were more towards the back of the street than at the front. She quickly put the toddler's hand back on her arm though as the child started reaching for something, "No Eren.. you can't take that. We should probably find you some more toys while we are here as well." The woman said as she looked to the bear that the boy was holding onto tightly. She came to a stop at a stand that had only children clothing, looking for a moment she smiled, "Right here. There we go." Hanji walked around to where the boy clothing was and carefully set Eren down on the ground. She put the blanket around her shoulders like a shawl to keep it from getting dirty, "Stay right there alright? We are going to find you some clothes." She smiled as Eren looked up to her with a big smile and sparkling eyes to match his smile.

Straightening herself she looked to the stand before picking up one of the shirts that looked like it would fit the boy, kneeling down she held the shirt up to Eren and smiled as the boy looked down at the shirt then back up to her, "A perfect fit." She gave the boy a smile as she patted him on the head gently before getting up to get three more shirts and putting them in a pile close to her before looking for trousers and underwear for Eren. Finding the underwear with ease and knowing they would fit she added some to the pile, "Alright just some trousers, sock and a good coat then we are done here. Alright Eren?" She looked down to the boy, a little concerned as he clinged to her leg.

Hanji looked around to see what was scaring the boy to find some people looking directly at them, frowning she placed a hand on Eren's head gently, "It is alright Eren. They can't do anything to you." She carefully moved Eren so that he was directly in front of her, glancing back at them. She quietly wondered what was taking Levi so long to find the two of them, it really should not be that hard but then with the market being crowded as it is it could be hard. Placing her hand back on the boy's head she gently ran her fingers through his hair to keep the boy calm.

Her eyes closed as she heard some footsteps making their way over in their direction but then there was another that was just as quick, turning around she saw Levi standing between the group of people and Hanji and Eren. Her eyes went from Levi to the people as her hands quickly moved to pick the child up in her arms, holding him close. But as soon as the scene was to start, the people walked away. She smiled as Levi turned around to face her, "Are you two alright?" The man scanned the both of them quickly.

Hanji nodded, "We are fine. I just need to pay for these clothes and then we can get out of here before anyone else tries to start something.." She handed the boy over to Levi, who quickly took Eren from her. Looking down at the boy he smiled at him as the boy looked up at him before burying his head into Levi's cloak. The man ran his hand through the boy's hair, looking a little sad but calm.

He then glanced over to the stand that was full of toys. He knew that the bear was not going to be enough to fully entertain the boy so after a quick look to Hanji who was still looking through for some more clothes, the man turned towards the other stand, "Alright.. take your pick Eren." He turned the boy towards the stand, who was still holding his teddy bear so tightly. Acting almost as though he was afraid to drop it among the toys on the stand. The boy looked silently at all the toys before reaching for a stuffed lion. Reaching over, Levi picked the stuffed lion up, "Alright one more.." He watched the toddler look at the toys again after looking up at him. His eyes settled on a stuffed dog but then on a horse, the boy seemed to be unable to decide on which to pick so Levi picked both of them up before paying the merchant.

Hanji turned around to Levi just as the man did, smiling warmly at him, "Ready?" She said, eyeing the toys that were stuffed in Levi's arms and giggled as she took the toys and placed them in the sack that was in her hand, "I thought you said just two?"

Levi shrugged, "Well he could not decide so I just gave in and got him three." He poked the boy's nose playfully, the toddler giggling as he tried to reach for the man's nose. With a smirk, the man brought the boy up to his face and blew a raspberry into the toddler's belly, getting a fit of giggles and laughs. A quick glance around he looked to Hanji, "Do we have everything?"

The woman gave him a smile as she nodded, "Yes we have everything now. Though when we get back we will need to pick up some more clothes for Eren." She then turned around and started walking towards where the horses are tied. Levi followed, taking the sack from her, he put Eren down for a moment before tying the sack to his horse's saddle, "Alright Eren. You are going to ride with me." He said as the man picked the toddler up after untying his horse from the post. Putting a hand on the saddle he easily hoisted himself and Eren up onto the saddle. Putting the boy down in front of him he took an extra rope and carefully tied it around the both of them to make sure that the boy did not fall off during the long ride. Once he was sure the boy was not going to fall off, he turned his horse around, waiting for Hanji before signalling his horse to start walking.


End file.
